US embassy cable - 05VIENNA1770

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 001770 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/E AND EUR/AGS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KDEM, PGOV, PHUM, ET, AU 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN REACTION TO ETHIOPIAN POST-ELECTION PERIOD 
 
REF: STATE 99185 
 
Classified By: ECONOMIC-POLITICAL COUNSELOR GREGORY E. PHILLIPS.  REASO 
N:  1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
1.  (SBU) EconPolCouns discussed reftel points on May 31 with 
Caroline Gudenus, the DAS-level head of African affairs in 
the Austrian Foreign Ministry's Bureau of Middle East and 
African Affairs. 
 
2.  (SBU) Gudenus noted that the EU Presidency had issued a 
statement referring to the EU election observer mission's 
comments of May 17 "concerning both positive aspects and 
reported irregularities, which will need to be looked into 
later."  Gudenus pointed out that the statement said the 
election observer mission "will continue to monitor the 
remaining part of the electoral process."  The statement went 
on to say that there will be a further official statement 
after the National Election Board has counted votes, and "any 
other declaration on the results is therefore premature." 
 
3.  (C) Gudenus said the EU's election observer mission did 
not have a mandate to observe the National Election Board's 
investigations into election complaints.  However, the EU 
election observer mission and EU diplomats in Addis Ababa 
were working with both the government and the opposition to 
push the democratic process forward.  In this connection, 
Gudenus said the EU was playing a mediating role between the 
government and opposition, and held the first meeting in this 
capacity on May 28.  She noted further that the presence of 
Javier Solana and Louis Michel in Addis Ababa was a strong 
indication of the EU's interest in the Ethiopian electoral 
process. 
 
4.  (SBU) Gudenus asked that we continue to consult as our 
thinking develops on how to address the situation in Ethiopia. 
Brown